Hungary
The Hungarians have the power of Horsemanship (Migration) Game info Faction Type: Catholic National Bonuses: *Cities cost 75% cheaper *May Build one more city beyond the normal limit, bonus city begin with 1st civics upgrade *Double population limit per military technology, up to 25% above maximum game limit *Barracks units and citizens move 25% faster *Unit upgrades do not require military research, except Cavalry which requires Level 2 Military Research Unique Units: *Avar 1 => Magyar lancer 2 (Magyar lancers are heavy cav higher attack at the cost of less armour and maybe hitpoints.) *Orban's Cannon (best culverin unit in the game for taking out infantry and non-gunpowder siege weapons, has high rate of fire and speed of movement; but requires Science IV to build) *Caucasus huntsman 1 => Cilician bowman 2 => Armenian archer 3 *Black Legion gunner? (high knowledge ramp cost; can entrench) *Horse archer => mounted ranger => Palace Gamekeeper (replaces skirmishers) Mercenaries: 1 Kerne 2 Armenian 3 Serbian hussar, Swabian landser Suggestions and spoilers With multiple abilities and units that are fast on the march well into the Imperial Era, Hungary is an extremely powerful faction, compared to others. With its ability to found cities faster and its fast-moving infantry, the Magyar war machine's ability to traverse great spaces shouldn't be underestimated. Fast-moving villagers mean that you will get to expand as the crow flies - by the time your opponent is halfway setting up his 2nd city, you may immediately be wondering what buildings to place in your newly founded 2nd and 3rd cities. With lower hitpoints than usual, your Avars and Magyar lancers are more medium cavalry than heavy, but this belies the fact that they rival the Turks in damage potential, thus Hungarian heavy cavalry is best trained in large numbers and used for flanking attacks. Keep your cavalry in reserve until your opponent exposes his or her flank, and then move them in to exploit it. Fast-moving infantry is a bonus, as they can help cover your cavalry as equally as your cavalry can escort them without trouble, if the need should arise. Lastly, use your Armenian archer line to counter-fire enemy archers — they are useful at taking out British longbowmen, Japanese noblewomen, and can even seriously damage light cavalry and gunners. Lastly, you also have access to Orban's cannon, named after the famous Hungarian engineer who took apart Constantinople's walls. Orban's cannon is also faster than other cannons in rates of fire and is substantially more mobile, making for fast and relatively more mobile armies that can outrun other factions, especially those of Poland, the Papal States and Russia (with slower training times and convoluted resource issues). The only danger perhaps would be France, with its fast-moving and hard-hitting knights and gunners, or Spain's toughened infantry. Faction summary *We Build This City — As a highly expansive civ with the ability to increase its borders, taxation research should be emphasised — wealth is used to recruit your knightly cavalry and your scholars, who are important for progressing through ages and manufacturing gunpowder units. *Blitzkrieg — Hungary has the speediest army on the march. In the Imperial Era, equip your infantry and cavalry armies with Orban's cannon, which can make short work of other less well-developed units. *Avar Blast — Although Hungary's Magyar cavalry are weaker than other players' knights, they can be very devastating when used in quantity and properly: use them to run your opponents' army through, and flank heavy infantry. This technique works well aginst lighter opponents but less so against factions like Bohemia or Japan with their powerful unique heavy infantry, but works exceptionally well against factions which rely on light troops such as China and Mongolia. *Legging It — In battles consisting of open areas, Hungary is king. You will need to micro-manage your troops, particularly your knights, heavy infantry, archers and gunners, in order to crush the enemy in the field. *Trench Warfare — Hungarian gunners were known to have used pavises in combat, and in this game it's the same. Cover your gunners with your tougher than normal Armenian archers while they entrench if you want to create a defensive line. Leaders: '''Emerico, Ugo, Arpad, Istvan, Ladislao, Bela, Matteas Corvinus, Karol of Anjou, Louis the Great, Sigismond '''Settlements: Pest; Privigye; Miskolc; Pécs; Gyor; Sopron; Eger; Nagykanizsa; Nyíregyháza; Zsolna; Eperjes; Szombathely; Tatabánya; Kaposvár; Békéscsaba; Érd; Kassa; Pozsony; Buda; Debrecen; Poprád; Trencsén; Turócszentmárton; Nagyszombat; Besztercebánya; Szolnok; Nyitra; Szeged; Kecskemét; Székesfehérvár; Veszprém; Zalaegerszeg History Central Asia had long been the home of various nomadic tribes based on the practice of animal herding and horses. Humans had inhabited the region ever since the prehistoric period. The centuries before the Genghis Khan's conquests, various Turkic and Mongol-Tungusic tribes inhabited the steppes of Mongolia. These various ethnic groups alternatively ruled each other during this time, one group would gain power and subdue the others until another group formed to topple the previously superior power. The land lends itself to breed a people who were used to harsh living conditions, mobility and war — elements that make for an ideal military force, so it is no coincidence that some of the most successful conquerors and invaders came from this region of the world. Coming of the Huns One of the first politically organized groups were the Hsiung-nu (the Chinese name for a tribe called the Hunnu) had for a time been dominant in the region. They throughout this time, posed a constant threat to ancient China, and were the cause for China to build the Great Wall. The result however was that due to Chinese activity in the northwestern wastes, a westward migration of nomadic horse-riding tribes would course its way toward Europe. One of these groups would eventually arrive at the gates of Roman Empire in the 4th century, to be known to the western world as the Huns. The arrival of the Huns ... Founding of On-Ogour and Hungary Although the Huns under Atilla did create an empire that reached from Germany all the way to the Ukraine, it was not the Huns who laid the foundations for the modern Hungarian state, but the Magyars. Originally a confederation of nomadic tribes living between the Carpathians and the Urals, the Magyar were driven out by the activities of the Pechenegs, another group of nomads, and so crossed into the Danube river basin and assimilated the Avars, whose own empire was crumbling into ruin. Modern Hungary was said to have been born in the midst of the Byzantine-Bulgar wars of the 9th century. The Hungarian leader, Árpád, allied his tribe with the Byzantines and smashed the Bulgars, but were in turn driven out by a Bulgar-Pecheneg alliance, eventually settling in the Carpathian basin and proceeding to raid territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire alike, until military defeats in 955 and 970 decimated their armies. By 1000, the Magyar kingdom was well on the way to becoming a unitary Christian state, centred around Esztergom (near present-day Budapest). The Golden Age of Hungary On Christmas day 1000, Vajk, Grand Prince of the Magyars, was crowned king by Pope Sylvester with the consent of the Holy Roman emperor, Otto II. His reign would see the creation of modern Hungary as he strengthened Christianity throughout his realm as the official religion, and his successors would continue building up Hungary into a powerful nation which even exceeded the power of the French by the 12th century. Unlike other nations in Europe, which often experienced instability due to the feudal system, Hungary remained a rather stable kingdom. It opened relations with the Germans and the Poles, annexed Croatia into its sphere of power and even expelled the Byzantines from the Balkans. It was this same Hungary too that withstood the Mongols on their expedition into Europe in the 13th century. Yet feudalism crept in. Originally, Hungarian kings were the largest land owners, but as time passed by and the complexity of the Hungarian state meant that trade and industry reduced the importance of agriculture and other primary economic activities, the kings of Hungary were forced to cede lands to nobles in order to maintain their allegiance to Esztergom. In 1222, frustrated with taxes to pay for wars with the Teutonic order (then active in the Carpathians), Magyar nobles confronted their king Andrew II and forced him to sign the Golden Bull (the word "Bull" being a from the Latin word for "seal"), a series of laws limiting the king and compelling his successors to pledge to uphold the Bull's statutes before he or she could assume the crown. The power of the king eventually waned in 1301 when king Andrew III died, leaving no suitable heir to the House of Árpád and a kingdom on the verge of civil war. A new series of kings was appointed from the House of Anjou, however; this guaranteed victory against the Turks; stability and prosperity in equal measures; and more heroic days for Central Europe, and the emergence of great figures such as Matthew Korvín (also known as Matthias Corvinus) and Hunyadi Janós. Matthew Korvín was an archetypical Renaissance man: he was equally adept in the martial science as equally as he was well-versed with the arts and culture: Magyarophiles attest that Hungary experienced the Renaissance first before the Italians did. It was said that Matthew was planning to become the next Holy Roman Emperor, when he died suddenly in 1490, supposedly by poisoning. Decline of the Kingdom Yet, all this was not to last as Hungary continued to suffer from the same problems brought on by feudalism : disunity and weak kings. After Matthew Korvín's death, the local magnates and barons decided to elect a Vladislaus II of Bohemia, an acquiescent man, to rule as their king. This weakened the power of Hungary's centralised authority and eventually resulted in the downfall of the kingdom. Hungary was partitioned by the Turks and eventually annexed to the Ottoman and Habsburg empires. Category:Factions Category:Spoiler Category:Incomplete